Improvement in marine logs and leeway indicators



A A. E. LOZIER. I Marine Log and Leeway Indicator.

Patented March 15,

, plete.

Nrrnn STATES y PATENT OFFICE.

A. E. LOZIER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

Specilication forming part of Letters Patent No. 41,932, dated March 15, 1864.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, A. E. LOZIER, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented a new and Improved Marine Log and Leeway Indicator; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part 0f this specilication, in which- Figure'l is a plan of the instrument com- Fig. 2 is a plan of the interior, as exposed to view by the removal of the dial. Fig. is a vertical section of the saine without its Similar letters of reference indicate correspondin g parts in the several figures.

This invention consists in a certain novel arrangement ot' a dial,indioes, gearing, and springs, in combination with a slide which has attached to it by aline of suitable length a chip bucket or iloat, which by dragging in the Water astern of a vessel while the instrument is arranged upon the taffrail is made to produce a greater or less draft upon the slide and tension upon the springs according to the speed at which the vessel passes through the Water, thereby causing the slide so to act through the gearing upon the indicesas to indicate upon the dial the speed of the vesselin miles and fractional portions thereof'. In order that the drat't of the line may be always direct upon the slide, the case of the instrument, containingthe springs, gearing, dial, and slide, is balanced on journals or between centers. ranging the several working parts of the instrument as to permit the whole to turn within the case, that when the vessel is making leeway the slide may be drawn by the line and chip or oat to a positionfoblique to an imaginar'y line passing longitudinally through the vessel and so indicate the leeway upon a graduated scale provided on the case of the instrunient.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is the case which contains the working parts of the log, made of circular form and furnished with a dial, a. This box is furnished with two journals, b 11,011 which it is balanced in such a manner that it will hang with its axis in a vertical position and with the dial The invention iurther consists in so arupward andin a horizontal position. These journals are received in bearings o c in a box, B, which may either be permanently secured on the center of the taffrail of a vessel or furnished with hooks or other means of attaching it to the center of the ta'rail when it is desired to ascertain the speed of the vessel.

The back of this box is either'open, as shown at d d, or made with a door which may be opened when it is desired to ascertain the speed. (l is a circular plate arranged to turn on a pivot, u, secured in the center of the bottom of the case A. To the top of this plate there is secured a parallel-sided frame, D, the sides of which serve as guides to the yT-shaped head e of the slide E, the stem of which passes out through a horizontal slot in the back ot the case A and through a guide, F, which is adjustable upon a projecting ange, s, formed on the back part ofthe exterior of the caseE and extending about or nearly half-way round the same. This guide is provided with a setscrew, t, by which it can be secured upon the flange s.

j' is the index-spindle, fitted to turn in one bearing, g, secured on the center of the plate G, and to another bearing in the top of the frame D and passing through the center of the dial, outside of which the index It is secured to the said spindle. 'i is a toothed pinion secured on the said spindle f, and gearing with a toothed rack, j, which is secured to the slide E parallel with the stem thereof for the purpose of producing a rotary movement of the index by the longitudinal movement ofthe slide. lThe spindle f has also secured to it a spur-wheel, 7c, which gears witha pinion, I,

teeth that the index q will make one complete revolution for every twentieth part of a revolution made by'the index h. The T-shaped head ot' the slide E isconnected with the frame D by means of the two spiral springs r r, arranged parallel With each other, one on each side of the spindle f, and these springs, when in their normal condition, hold the slide E and its attached rack jin such position that the gearing keeps the two indices at the zero-point of the dial.

The dial is represented as graduated al1 around in twenty equal parts representing .,miles, and numbered from 0 to 19, and these log, will meet with some resistance in being drawn through the water. The line e maybe about one hundred and titty feet long, but the best length will depend somewhat upon the height of the tatt'rail of the` vessel, a higher vessel requiring' a longer line.

To ascertain the speed ot' the vessel, the box B having been attached to the center ot' the tatrail, the guide F is secured by the set screw t directly behind the indeXspindIe, as shown in Fig. 2, and in black outline in Fig. l, and the bucket or chip G thrown overboard. The resistance which the water oii'ers to thev bucket or chip being drawn through it, which is greater or less according to the speed of the vessel, causes the slide E to be drawn out a greater or less distance, in opposition to the action ot" the springs r 'r, till the increasing tension of the springs balances the resistance. of the water and thereby causes the indices to be moved upon the dial and the springs having been properly adjusted, the. indices indicate upon the dial the speed at which the vessel is moving through the water, the index li, indicating miles and the index q twentieths and hundredth parts of miles. In this opera tion the case A, being balanced on the pivots b b, assumes the same inclination as the liue fv, so that the draft of Athe said line is directly in line with the slide E and unnecessary fric tion upon the said slide is prevented. l To provide for ascertaining the leeway which a vessel is making, the upper: surface ol' the flange sis graduated in divisions corresponding with the points of the compass. When the leeway is to be found, the set-screw tis unscrewed torele'ase the guide F and allow the slide E, the plate D, and allthe meollanism within the case A to turn about the pivot u. rlhe draft produced on the line e by the bucket or chip Gr then draws the bar Ein one direction or the other, as shown in red outline in Fig. l, according to the direction ofthe leeway, till the bar E has the same` direction as the line and becomes stationary. The point x ofthe movable guide F then indicates on the graduated upper surface of the flange s the number ot' points ot leeway.

YVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure byLetters Patent., isy l. The combination of the case A,`slide E,` springs r o", line v, chip or bucket G, rack and gearing j `i k l m n, indices h q, and dialn, the whole applied, arranged, and operating substantially' as herein set. forth.

2. The balancing of the case A on pivots or journals b b, substantially as and for the pur` pose herein specified. p

The attachment of the slide E, gearing, and springs ot' the log to a plate, C, or its equivalent, which is capable ot' turning within the case A in such manner that by the use ot' a suitable scale outside of the box the slide may serve to indicate the leeway.

A.E.LOZ1ER.

Witnesses D. RoBnR'rsoN, Tiros` S. J. DOUG-Las. 

